


fire and gold

by lxstdreams



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 07:43:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21334678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxstdreams/pseuds/lxstdreams
Summary: "it was new, and warm, and kind, and sweet, and over way before any of them knew what it was. it was a story of almost. a story full of firsts. it was everything and, at the same time, it meant nothing."
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Ruby Gillis/Moody Spurgeon McPherson
Kudos: 19





	1. prologue.

The wind was wild that night, it almost seemed as though Mother Nature was trying to prove a point. Which one? No one quite knew yet, no nature disaster had ever took place in the little town of Avonlea. A tree may have fallen in the past, but that was the most exciting thing that had happened. However, that night, as clear as the sky was, the wind moved everything. The trees were bending and most of them looked like they were going to break at any point. A couple of windows broken, a door opened simply by the force of the air. And amidst all this, in the middle of the woods, two girls. As scared as they could be, hiding inside a hollow log, praying to all the Gods and Goddess known by mankind. They knew they should have stayed home. They knew that idea was the worst one they had ever had. And yet the sheer force of human mind had them go out against their better judgement.

The girls screamed and cried and hugged so tight that they might as well have killed each other by cutting off the other’s oxygen. But no. That’s not what killed them. It happened fast. One moment they were screaming, the next one they heard a crack, a tree falling, and the hollow log was not strong enough. And so the tree broke the log, and the impact, their necks. And just like that, they were gone.


	2. one.

Anne woke up crying, sweat all over her face. Her breathing was out of control and she felt sick, so, so sick. The redheaded girl could not remember what the dream was about, but it had left her with an awkward feeling in her stomach and the pressure on her chest was just too much. And then she stopped breathing. I was as if she had forgotten how to breathe, her lungs weren’t functioning and it was all too much. She had imagined death multiple times, but every scenario had ended with a peaceful death, surrounded by her loved ones and after a long life full of the most amazing adventures all around the world. Sometimes she imagined her death to be in the middle of one of those adventures, a heroic death, one might say. But never in a million years would she have imagined that situation. Not even her vivid imagination could have come up with that. She tried to cry for help, but the words were stuck in the throat, she was unable to speak, unable to move, unable to function.

It lasted barely five minutes, the panic attack, but it felt like an eternity. As soon as it was over, Anne ran downstairs and went outside as fast as her legs allowed her to. The moon was still up in the sky, shining brightly, and the view calmed her down. She forced herself to breathe slowly, to close her eyes and listen to the sound of her own heartbeat. And so she did.

Marilla found her hours later, curled up in Matthew’s rocking chair. The older woman tapped her shoulder lightly, she didn’t want to scare her. But it was getting late and Anne needed to go to school. They were preparing for Queen’s exams and Marilla knew how important that was for the little redhead. So she kept tapping on her shoulder until the girl slowly opened her eyes. Anne stretched, and by doing so, she ended up falling to the floor which caused Marilla to roll her eyes before going back inside.

“Oh, Marilla, I had the worst of nights. The worst. It was tremendously hard to even breathe! Breathe, Marilla! Humans are born with an inherent knowledge on how to breathe!” the exasperation was obvious in her tone. She was mad at herself for not knowing how to handle the events of the previous night. So mad.

Right in that moment, Matthew came downstairs and kissed the top of her head. And that simple gesture soothed her anger. Matthew Cuthbert and his permanent calm state could soothe pretty much everyone who came across him. It was the coolest ability ever. And Anne loved it. The petite girl finished her breakfast as fast as she could before kissing both, Marilla and Matthew, on the cheek, picking up her things and rushing out of Green Gables. She couldn’t be late to school. Chances were she was going to be that day, but still she ran, and ran and ran.

And luckily enough, she made it.

“Anne!” Ruby’s high pitched voice welcomed her into the classroom and soon enough, the blonde girl and Diana were hugging her as tight as they could. She was confused, to be honest. Not that she didn’t appreciate her friends’ enthusiasm, but they had seen each other the previous day and the class was about to start. “Miss Stacy is putting you in charge of the next number of our newspaper! She’s going to be out of town the whole week. She’s going to Queen’s! I didn’t get what she’ll be doing there… But she’s going! Isn’t that exciting?”

Anne’s confusion turned into precisely what Ruby had just said… Excitement. She absolutely adored their little newspaper with all her heart. And the fact that Miss Stacy trusted her enough to put her in charge… It was a dream come true for her.

“Dearest friends, you have no idea of how delighted I am to hear this. Of course I’ll miss Miss Stacy, but this is such a great opportunity to show her what I’m capable of!” the smile that adorned her lips was so big that little crinkles formed at the corner of her eyes. “But… who is going to teach in her place?”

And in that exact moment Prissy Andrews walked through the door with a bunch of maps under her arm. She looked just as excited as Anne had been when she had heard the news. Confusion spread quickly and then vanished as soon as Prissy — who every single one of them had known since forever — started talking. She talked them through the week’s program and the happiness in her voice convinced everyone that Miss Stacy had made the right choice.

* * *

After the class, Ruby stayed behind to help Prissy organize everything she needed for the week to come. Or at least that was her intention. Josie Pye beat her to it. By the time she was going to offer her help, Josie and Prissy were so deep into conversation and seemed so comfortable with each other, that she just felt like she was intruding their little moment. So she murmured a little goodbye that got no answer whatsoever and stepped out of the schoolhouse.

The walk to her house was quiet and Ruby was left with her own thoughts. She had discovered that she liked being alone, having time for herself to think about everything going on in her life. Maybe it had to be with her growth, with her accepting her womanhood and leaving behind her childhood’s crush. Or maybe she simply needed time for her. She had spent all her life surrounded by people, trying to please said people and building up a future that she wasn’t sure she wanted anymore. Of course she wanted a happy life and dreamed of a future full of children and a loving husband and books. That one was new. And thanks to Anne. She had also discovered that she liked reading. She read mostly Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters. But hey, it was a beginning. Still, her standards weren’t ridiculously high anymore. She wasn’t trying to pursue a guy who clearly had no interest in her and she was much more open to other people. Of course she had much to learn, about the world and about herself, but she had made it her mission to slowly take everything in and make herself a better person.

Hours later, when she was already tucked in bed ready to go to sleep, Ruby looked back at everything that had happened in the past three years. Anne Shirley-Cuthbert had definitely arrived at Avonlea to shake things up, and as hesitant as she had been about the girl’s existence at first, she couldn’t be happier that Anne had appeared into their lives. There were many things she had taught them, that much was undeniable, and Ruby could not help but hope that they had taught them little things of their own. She knew that the redheaded girl had made an impact on the way she view herself and she liked to believe that she had passed some of her never ending positivity and hopefulness to Anne. Even if it had been just a little.

It took her twenty minutes to fall asleep, and then only ten until the nightmare began. Funny enough it was the exact same nightmare that Anne Shirley-Cuthbert had exactly the previous night.


End file.
